R. v. Brown (Charles)
[2014] EWCA Crim 695
In the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Case Number 2013/6464/A4
Before Lady Justice Rafferty DBE, Justice Cranston, and Justice Stewart
Decided on March 27, 2014

Relevancy of the case: Consideration of material loss and potential loss while determining an accused’s sentence in a case of hacking and bank fraud

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Computer Misuse Act 1990

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The police arrested the appellant for hacking into other people’s bank accounts.
• He initially denied the accusations, but the investigation found the necessary software to break into bank accounts on his laptop.
• The loss was allegedly £200,000 from over 83 different accounts.
• The appellant has appealed against his sentence.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The appellant’s counsel argued that the judge erred in giving the sentencing since the decision was beyond the guidelines set for fraud. She also contended that the judge relied too much on prediction and potential loss of money. She further argued that the judge didn’t rely much on material loss.

Opinion of the Bench

• A court must emphasise the material loss over the potential loss.

Final Decision

• The court allowed the appeal and modified the appellant’s sentence to 2 years.

Aarya Tyagi, an undergraduate student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahemadabad, prepared this case summary during his internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2024.